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Finding Journal Articles
When doing research at Santa Clara, professors will often ask you to find journal articles on a topic. These articles are collected in databases and most databases focus upon specific subject areas.
Getting Started
- Go to the Library homepage https://www.scu.edu/library/ and click on the "Databases" tab.
- Choose Browse by Subject or Browse by Title
- If searching from off-campus, you will need to login to access library databases.
Best Political Science Databases
- Political Science Complete This link opens in a new windowPolitical Science Complete contains full-text for more than 520 journals and indexing & abstracts for over 2,900 titles, including top-ranked scholarly journals. The database has a worldwide focus, reflecting the globalization of contemporary political discourse.
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new windowProvides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration & policy. About 60% of the titles covered are published outside the United States. 1975-present. Updated monthly.
- Policy File Index This link opens in a new windowIndexes public policy research and analysis from think tanks, university research programs, research organizations and publishers. Provides links to fulltext where available.
Best General Databases
These databases cover a variety of disciplines, not just political science.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowA multidisciplinary database providing access to more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. It also offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals. Covers a wide range of academic topics including business, education, social sciences, humanities, science, & engineering. Coverage varies, with some publications going back to 1911.
- OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new windowThis multi-disciplinary database provides the complete content - indexing, abstracts, and full text - from six of Wilson's full-text databases: Education Full Text, General Science Full Text, Humanities Full Text, Readers' Guide Full Text, Social Sciences Full Text, and Business Full Text. Full-text articles from five additional periodical databases are also included when available: Applied Science & Technology Full Text, Art Full Text, Biological & Agricultural Index, Index to Legal Periodicals & Books, and Library Literature & Information Science Full Text. Indexing begins in 1982, abstracts in 1984, and full-text coverage in 1994. Updated daily.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowProvides image and full-text online access to back issues of selected scholarly journals in history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics, biology, and other fields of the humanities, social sciences, and life sciences. Consult the online tables of contents for holdings, as coverage varies for each title. Updated monthly.